America in Prophecy by Ellen White [Original Edition]

himself deliberately in opposition to Rome. But devotion to
more clearly he discerned the errors of the papacy, the more
earnestly he presented the teaching of the Bible. He saw that
Rome had forsaken the word of God for human tradition;
he fearlessly accused the priesthood of having banished
the Scriptures, and demanded that the Bible be restored to
the people, and that its authority be again established in the
church. He was an able and earnest teacher, and an eloquent
preacher, and his daily life was a demonstration of the truths
he preached. His knowledge of the Scriptures, the force of his
reasoning, the purity of his life, and his unbending courage and
they saw the iniquity that prevailed in the Roman Church, and
they hailed with unconcealed joy the truths brought to view
greater than their own.
Wycliffe was a keen detector of error, and he struck
fearlessly against many of the abuses sanctioned by the
authority of Rome. While acting as chaplain for the king, he
took a bold stand against the payment of tribute claimed by
the pope from the English monarch, and showed that the papal
assumption of authority over secular rulers was contrary to
both reason and revelation. The demands of the pope had
excited great indignation, and Wycliffe’s teachings exerted an
the nobles united in denying the pontiff ’s claim to temporal
authority, and in refusing the payment of the tribute. Thus
an effectual blow was struck against the papal supremacy in
England.
Another evil against which the Reformer waged long and
resolute battle, was the institution of the orders of mendicant
friars. These friars swarmed in England, casting a blight
upon the greatness and prosperity of the nation. Industry,
life of idleness and beggary was not only a heavy drain upon